worldofjaymzfandomcom-20200215-history
New Life For An Old Heart
Spring 109PA (By James LaFlamme) Captain Louis sat still in his blind watching the group of mercenaries at their camp in the distance. Lieutenant Durst quietly approached from behind. "Still nothing Cap?" the Lt. said. Louis responded flatly "No nothing yet....and it's your turn to watch....not sure why we are out here watching these particular mercs but I am sure HQ has their...." and he stopped mid-sentence. Both turned to look to the distance as the sound of engines on the air could be heard. "Visitors?" asked Durst. Louis just looked back at him and shrugged and retook his observation position for the moment. After another 10 seconds or so, as the engine sounds grew louder, an aircraft came into view. Louis adjusted his binocs to get a better look at it. "Holy shit....." He stammered and regained composure quickly "they've got a castle coming in....". Durst audibly snorted over the comm "well fuck me....". Louis refocused and zoomed in further on it. "Something isn't right though....definitely a Castle but.....it's missing most of the regular armaments...". Durst had joined him at this point with his own binocs and was taking up position to observe as well. They both watched in silence for several minutes as the plane touched down near the merc encampment and a group of people disembarked, being met by an envoy from the mercs. There was a few minutes of back forth discussion as best they could tell when the bay doors of the Air Castle opened. Continuing to watch the people, the lead merc handed over a large case to the lead plane crewperson and shook hands. That's when they first tank emerged. "Is that what I think it is Cap?" was all Durst could say. Louis had to look it over for several long seconds before responding. "It is.....and that does not look used. Not one bit." They continued to watch in silence from that moment on as two more tanks, a pair APCs, and missile carrier followed behind the first tank. It wasn't until the Air Castle lifted off and left the area that either of them spoke again. "We need to get this back to command. Looks like Iron Heart Armaments is back in business....." Iron Heart Armaments Reborn (By MacKenzie Coker based on concepts by James LaFlamme) The Coalition States first approached Iron Heart Armaments in the early 100s PA for the purchase of naval vessels. The powers that be took it as a sign that perhaps Iron Heart Armaments were on a track to become allied with the powerful nation. The true reality, however was far more insidious. The CS invaded New Kenora in late 104PA with the intention of taking over the small city-state and capturing all of Iron Heart Armament’s manufacturing plants and technical data for their own use. This plan was not fully realized, and many of IHA’s executives, engineers and tech’s escaped the invasion, managing to take copies of all technical data with them and hitting the kill switches on their computers and hard drives on the way out. Those escaping the invasion managed to meet up with a heavy transport group that had departed New Kenora a week previous. This caravan was loaded down for delivery of goods, and the survivors and escapees of the city-state’s invasion capitalized on those materials, claiming them for their own usage. Banding together as a Privateer/Pirate group, they set two goals for themselves. First, to cause the Coalition as much pain and grief as possible, by raiding, capturing or destroying the CS Supply convoys and harass their ship, and Secondly to gain the capital to rebuild Iron Heart Armaments and restart manufacturing and selling of the product lines again. Beginning in early 105PA, the Iron Heart Avengers as they now called themselves, began implementing their first goal. The second goal would come later in that year, with help from a unforeseen and surprising benefactor. In the final months of 105PA, the leaders of the newly minted Iron Heart Avengers were contacted via unknown courier. A proposal to help them achieve the rebuilding of their power base and manufacturing abilities was offered. Via the courier, a time and place for a meeting was agreed upon. The meeting revealed the unknown party to be envoy from the State of Lazlo. A few months of back and forth negotiation was conducted, in secret and by early 106PA a formal agreement had been entered into by both parties. This agreement would see Lazlo receive much needed military equipment, as their usual sources in Northern Gun and Wellington industries were under pressure to stop supplying the ‘magic nation’ from the Coalition States. It would likewise see Iron Heart Armaments gain land holdings and the resources needed to build new factories to produce their products. The State of Lazlo also would provide a bit of protection from the CS and other hostile powers. Not that the CS was friendly with Lazlo, but after the Battle with Tolkeen, they might be a bit less likely to just swing over and attempt to take Iron Heart Armaments by force, as they’d have to conquer and or destroy all of Lazlo to manage it. Magical building techniques, developed and mastered by the Earth Warlocks of Lazlo were employed along with Earth Elemental labor forces. The first physical facilities were established with surprising speed to the non magically inclined techs and developers of IHA. As secrecy was of upmost importance the main facilities were constructed underground. The magical construction went well and the first facility was up and running in late 106PA. This facility was specifically created for building the Iron Bolt missile vehicles and Iron Maiden Armored Personnel Carriers. A second facility dedicated to the production of Gray Falcon jets and Iron Eagle helicopters went online in early 107PA, with a third manufacturing plant coming online later in the year producing Iron Hammer and Iron Fist main battle tanks. While the second and third facilities were being constructed a shipyard was also being produced, it’s harbor deepened and storm-walls put into place. This shipyard was constructed out side the city proper with the added protection of a sealed vertical lock access via a sheltered bay. With out the lock’s codes to function sea forces simply could not access the bay by force and could be effectively locked out. Early 108PA saw the keels laid for the first Triton, and three Black Eels. The following year would see a Sea King also started, with construction ongoing. The final construction in this multi-tiered process was for a facility to produce the Air Castle Bomber. Each of the manufacturing facilities were connected by a web of underground tunnels to give access to the City’s harbor and airfields. The actual locations of the manufacturing were some what covert, but such things cannot be kept secret forever. Proper observation, scouting and record keeping could track the raw materials going in and end results coming out. Additional Information (By James LaFlamme) - Iron Heart Avengers are re-configured into the IHAS, Iron Heart Armaments Security, to act as the primary security force for Iron Heart Armaments and its shipments - job creation and growth with the each facility going online is a boon to the area - additional job creation begins to occur in service and retail industries as more people are employed and by extension have more money to spend - this helps mitigate the unemployment and crime spike with so many refugees coming in from the Tolkeen war to a degree - unemployment and crime, while still an issue, no longer look to be a potentially insurmountable one Now, while the leadership of Lazlo and Iron Heart Armaments know this will cause the Coalition to turn it's gaze upon the region, both also knew this would not be as what had happened with Tolkeen. Throughout the process, contingency plans have been developed and implemented for such an inevitability and with what seems to be an inter-dimensional war spilling over on to the earth, the Coalition as well as every other major power on the planet, presently have bigger issues to worry about.